


Hellebore

by dontaskmewhyi



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:05:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontaskmewhyi/pseuds/dontaskmewhyi
Summary: Hellebore: Scandal, CalumnyKoala gets a job at a local flower shop, but finds that flowers really aren't her strong suite.





	Hellebore

“Welcome to Hana Hana, how may I help you today?” Robin greets the customer with practiced ease. Koala watches her from behind a very small bunch of white flowers. Daisies, perhaps?  The flowers that Robin chooses with practiced ease seem to belong together. It’s really amazing how skillfully she creates the bouquet, and the customer is extremely pleased.  Someone taps Koala on her shoulder and she jumps, spinning around and fighting the urge to lash out.

“Hi, sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. You work here?” a young lady asks, her head tilted just slightly to the right. Koala takes a deep breath.  “Yes! How can I help you today?” So far so good.

“I’d like to buy some flowers for a grave. What would you recommend?” the customer asks, and Koala feels herself starting to worry.  What was it Robin said about graves? Don’t mix… or was it always have a color and a solid? No, that was something else. Shoot, what was it she said about graves?

“Um….” Koala stutters for time, trying to remember what she’s been taught. There are just so many flowers, and so many meanings, and so many things.  “What… were you look at?” she prompts, hoping that this is an okay path to take. The customer gives her an odd look, but takes a moment to look around the shop.

“I don’t know. Maybe something colorful?” There’s something, at least. 

Koala can’t do much with that.

“We have many lovely roses. Red roses, for… passion. Pink is, friendship,” she bites down the ‘I think’ that wants to follow. If she’s going to say something, she has to own it.  “Yellow are, um,” she pauses, trying to think. “I don’t remember, I’m sorry,” Koala admits, feeling like she’s just let Robin down.

“Okay. Well, I don’t know about a rose. It’s not very… Bell-mere-y,” the customer comments, frowning at the display of roses and looking around once again. 

“May I recommend some gladiola? We have some lovely bright colors, though I think this red-tipped orange on here might be best,” Robin interjects, leading the customer away.  Koala hangs back, feeling ashamed. Hopefully the day will get better.

 

Her break finally comes and she hides away in the back room, pouring over one of the books Sabo found about flowers. It has flower meanings and arrangements. She’s already read it twice, but the information just won’t stick! After going over rose color meanings nearly half a dozen times, her break comes to an end, and Koala reluctantly puts the book away. She takes a deep breath, trying to recall what she just read, and hoping that maybe she’ll remember it when the time comes. She really wants to keep this job.

 

The pot shatters with a loud  _ crash _ , echoing in the small shop. Everyone stops and turns towards where Koala’s feet are covered in dirt. She gives Robin a guilty, apologetic look, and carefully moves to clean the mess up. After replanting the flowers - the daisies from earlier, she notes absently - she sweeps the area. Another mistake to this awful day.  _ What else could go wrong? _ she asks miserably as she carefully picks up the shards of ceramic. Another hand joins her and Koala looks up to see Robin right beside her, helping pick up the broken pot. Robin gives her a reassuring smile that makes Koala’s heart speed up. She quickly returns to the mess she’s made. She  _ really _ doesn’t want to lose this job.

 

It was a mistake to think that nothing else could go wrong. In a fit of confusion, she nearly charged one customer almost twice as much as she should have. Thankfully the customer noticed, and though they were  **not** happy, at least Robin was able to correct the mistake. Robin even apologized on her behalf! She felt mortified.

Then, to make matters worse, she had to be intervened with two more customers, one after giving all the wrong information about hydrangeas. Seriously, who knew that they were really good for the health and even used in some teas. She sure didn’t.

By the end of the day, Koala’s sure that Robin’s going to fire her. If she didn’t absolutely need this job, she might just leave of embarrassment. Though, she did have another excellent motivation to stay, despite her terrible performance. Performances. 

 

“Koala,” Robin says, stopping Koala as she’s packing up. “Would you mind staying a bit late tonight?” she asks, polite as always.  Koala feels her heart drop.

“Yeah, sure!” she replies, though her enthusiasm sounds so fake it probably wasn’t worth attempting. She texts her roommate, Sabo.

_ Robin’s asking me to stay late. Don’t know when I’ll be home.  _ A second later she adds:  _ Really messed up today.  _ She considers adding more, but decides against it. Sabo will understand. He always does. 

“What is it that you needed?” Koala asks, walking with Robin into the back of the shop.

“I can see that you are struggling with the flowers and their meanings, so I thought it might be beneficial if I taught you myself,” Robin says, gently taking one of the flowers into her gloved hand. “Would you be alright with that?” She turns to Koala, who nods quickly.

“Yes, that would be, that would be great! You, you would do that for me?” she can’t help asking, confused as to why Robin is putting so much effort into someone who’s so obviously hopeless. Robin just smiles at her, something gentle but a bit mysterious, and Koala’s ears turn a shade of light pink.

“This is a Hellebore Double Purple,” Robin starts, turning back to the flower in her hand. “It’s a hybrid that I specially make myself, for a very loyal customer. I’m sure you’ll meet them sometime,” she chuckles, like she knows something that Koala doesn’t. Well, she knows a lot of things Koala doesn’t. “It’s important to note that Hellebore’s are very toxic. You must avoid contact with skin whenever possible, never ingest them, and never, ever have them out on the floor,” Robin says softly, looking at the flower with some admiration.

She looks up then, and Koala straightens. She nods, staring at the flower and trying to commit it to memory. Robin gives a light chuckle.

“Perhaps it would help if you made a scrapbook-like-catalog of all the flowers we have?” she suggests with her usual knowing smile.  Koala quickly agrees, nodding vigorously. Her mouth doesn’t seem to be working. She didn’t know her boss could look so radiant; talking about that flower had light Robin’s entire face up with something Koala hasn’t seen before.

“Tomorrow, perhaps you can stay late again, and we can work on it?” Robin asks, setting the flower back on its shelf.

“Yeahs!” Koala exclaims, her words all jumbled. She tries again, “yes, I’m available. I would love your help. Very much.”

Robin gives her an encouraging smile. “Don’t let today get you down, alright?” With that, she moves on, pointing out another flower, and talking about it’s origins.

 

Koala only ends up staying an extra hour. With promises of getting the needed materials and bringing them tomorrow, she heads off for the night while Robin locks up. She gets home, feeling extremely giddy.

“Koala! Hey!” Sabo greets as she wanders into the kitchen looking for food. He hands her a plate of pancakes and nods towards the table where a small array of toppings has been laid out.  “Wasn’t sure if you’d need a pick-me-up or not, but figured breakfast for dinner couldn’t hurt. Did everything go okay?”

Koala takes a moment to scarf down a pancake before replying, her mouth still half full of food.  “It went fine! Well, the day was awful - I gave all the wrong information, and dropped a pot, and just made a fool of myself - when she asked me to stay after, I thought I was done for!” Koala shoves some more pancake in. She forgot to eat during her break, she was so busy studying the book.

“But instead, she started teaching me herself! She suggested making a scrapbook, and I agreed, so I’m going to be staying a bit late every night till I get the hang of things I guess.” It isn’t until then that Koala fully understands the meaning of that statement.

She’s going to be staying late, getting private flower lessons from Robin, her super gorgeous boss. 

Her thoughts must show on her face, because Sabo starts to laugh.

“Hey!” Koala objects, pointing her fork at him. He replies by laughing some more, so Koala steals one of his pancakes and finishes it off before he can snatch it back. He gives her a look of complete and utter betrayal, and Koala considers them even.

**Author's Note:**

> There's a possibility I will add more to this. I might also add it to a collection and have them all as separate but related fics. Who knows. Let me know if you'd like more Koala/Robin.


End file.
